roud of--and thought it necessary to tell the _Emperor_ he
was a _good Catholic_. This is not unnatural in his peculiar position.
When Lord Clarendon goes to Paris, he will be able to _silence_ any
further allusion to these idle stories which only lead to mischief,
and which even Lord Cowley seems to have made more of (as to his own
feelings upon them) than was necessary, but that is equally natural.
Speaking of his King--General La Marmora said: "Il ne dira jamais ce
qu'il ne pense pas, mais il dit quelquefois ce qui serait mieux qu'il
ne dit pas." He more than any other regrets the King's not having seen
more of the world, and says his journey had done him a _great_ deal of
good.

[Footnote 6: The Sardinian Commander had been attending the
Council of War at Paris.]

[Footnote 7: The King of Sardinia was reported to have told
the Emperor that the latter's loyalty to the Alliance was
questioned by Great Britain, and that it was conjectured in
London that he was in favour of co-operation with Austria
instead.]

[Pageheading: THE SPEECH FROM THE THRONE]

_Queen Victoria to Viscount Palmerston._

_28th January 1856._

The Queen returns to Lord Palmerston the draft of the speech, which
she thinks _extremely well_ worded, and which she therefore trusts
will be (with the exception of those passages marked) as little
altered as possible. Lord John Russell used to say that as soon as
a speech was discussed in the Cabinet, it was so much _pruned_ and
altered as to lose all its force. The Queen must own that she is
_much_ alarmed at hearing that the _papers_ of the War Council were to
be printed and circulated amongst the Cabinet, as she fears that the
secrecy, which is so necessary, upon which the Emperor laid so _much
stress_, will be very difficult to be maintained. The Emperor's
opinion at least, the Queen hopes, will _not_ be printed or generally
circulated?

The Queen must again press for a very early decision on the subject.
If this is allowed to _drag_, it will appear, particularly to the
_Emperor_, as if we were not really in earnest, though we stickled so
much for our additional conditions, which might lessen the hopes
of peace. Of course the Government must not give any answer on this
subject--should Parliament be so indiscreet as to ask _what_ the
result of the deliberations of the Council of War has been.

_Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians._

Windsor Cast